Trials
By Vengeance Girl
SERIES: Eighth and probably final part of the Kiss & Tell Series. The rest can be found here, and at a variety of other sites :D
SPOILERS: The whole series started before Offspring, and then went AU, although there are slight spoilers for Birthday.
FEEDBACK: Please - I thrive on it - rach@wholenew.deep-ice.com - keep my inbox company!
DISCLAIMER: So, next time I'm in the kitchen and I have an accident and spill some milk, >poof AUTHORS NOTE: Big huge hugs and thanks to Selina, who not only helped me write the *first* version of this fic, she stuck with it when my computer ate it and helped me write the *second* version as well. And lots of thanks to Regina, for prodding with her prodding stick, and helping me figure out where I was going wrong.
SUMMARY: She's all that he wants, she's all that he needs ... but does she see it?
****
Wesley slipped his key into the lock. He turned it noiselessly, and held the door open for his wife to enter with the sleeping child that lay in her arms. Fred smiled briefly, her usually sparkling eyes looking tired. She headed straight for their daughter's bedroom, and as Wesley went to bring their suitcases inside, Fred closed the door with her heel and flicked on the light.
She lay the girl carefully on the bed, and slipped off the comfortable T-shirt and trousers she'd worn to travel in. Quietly she rummaged through the drawers until she found one of the pairs of pyjamas they hadn't taken away with them, and changed her into them. Throughout this, the child didn't stir. "She's a deep sleeper," thought Fred, smiling. "Just like her father," She lifted the covers, and moved her daughter underneath them, kissed her on the forehead and left her to sleep.
"She asleep?"
"Yeah. Didn't wake up at all." Fred joined Wesley on the sofa. Curling her legs underneath her, she snuggled into the arm he lay round her shoulders.
"Well, that was ... " Wesley paused, searching for the right word to describe their holiday. ".. an experience."
"It was definitely that."
"Anna enjoyed herself, didn't she?"
"Yeah. She's quite the little English girl now - although I'm not sure about some of the slang she's picked up from the other kids round there!"
Wesley chuckled. "She'll forget it all, soon enough." He glanced at his watch. "I suppose I should ring Mum, tell her we got back safely."
"Won't she be asleep? It's like, 4am there."
"I can leave a message. She'll just worry if I don't. Especially now she's met Anna, she always did worry more when children were involved." He replied, standing. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Nah, I think I'll just go to bed. Are you coming?" Fred's eyes perked up slightly.
"I'll just ring Mum, check the post, and then I'll be there. You go - you look like you could use it!"
"If I had the energy, I would hit you with something, but I don't, so I'll just glare," Fred joked.
Wesley walked back across the room towards her, cordless phone in hand. She held her hand up pitifully, indicating him to help her. He took it, and jerked her out of her seat and into his arms. "You know you'll always be beautiful to me." He leant down and kissed her softly on the lips. She kissed him back, spoiling the moment slightly by stifling a yawn. Wesley laughed. "Go on. I'll be in soon."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Released from Wesley's arms, Fred traipsed into their bedroom, tired but happy. He watched her, smiling, until she closed the door, before returning his attention to the phone. Dialling quickly, he impatiently listened to the message on his mother's call minder, waiting for the tone.
"Mum, it's just me. We got back about half an hour ago, no problems. Umm ... we're going to bed now, so I'll speak to you soon. Bye." Wesley hung up, hating those machines with a vengeance. Yes, they were practical, but the messages on them always seemed cold, even now when he'd been using them for years.
Unbuttoning his shirt as he turned off the main light, Wesley entered the bedroom and smiled at the sight that greeted him. He slid his arms under his wife's slender, fully-clothed, and fast asleep body, moving her under the covers, not wanting to wake her. Quickly changing into something more comfortable than the clothes he'd been wearing to travel, he slipped himself under the covers, and within seconds he too, was fast asleep. Hush fell over the Wyndham-Pryce household once again.
*****
Sunlight streamed through the pale blue curtains onto Wesley's face, and he blinked awake. He smiled to see Fred still sound asleep. He rolled over to look at his clock, but instead almost jumped out of his skin to find Anna standing beside the bed, grinning from ear to ear. "Daddy!" The four year old drew out the last vowel sound, and Wesley grinned back. Holding a finger to his lips, he pulled the covers back and scooped her into his arms, carrying her back into the living area. He glanced at the wall clock and noted with surprise that it was almost noon. He was impressed Anna had slept that long, even as tired as she had been. She usually had the energy of a Slayer and never slept past nine am.
"Let's leave Mummy to sleep shall we?" he murmured. "She's even more tired than you were."
"I wasn't tired." The brunette shook her pretty curls defiantly. Wesley laughed as he walked over to the kitchen area, still in his boxer shorts, his hair tousled. "Would you like some breakfast?"
"Yes, please." The voice came from the bedroom doorway, not his daughter, and he looked up to see Fred standing there, looking considerably better for the rest she'd gotten. "I'd kill for a coffee."
Flicking the switch on the kettle, Wesley grabbed his wife by the waist, and kissed the top of her head. "Feel better for that?"
"A thousand times." She turned in his arms so that she faced him, and leaned up for a morning kiss.
"Daddy, I'm hungry." The moment interrupted, they both laughed.
"Okay, sweetie-pie," replied Fred. "We'll get you something, and then shall we'll go and see Angel and Cordy, okay?"
****
"Angel, have you seen my shampoo? I swear, we've got a cosmetics eating demon in this place!" Cordelia skipped down the stairs, spotted the bottle on the side of the kitchen sink, and frowned. "Angel, have you been using my shampoo?" She turned to head back up the stairs, and jumped when she saw the little girl standing there, grinning. "Jesus, Anna! You scared me!" She smiled as the child ran to her and hugged her tightly round the legs. Looking up, Cordy spotted Wesley and Fred standing in the hotel doorway, watching the scene before them. Dislodging Anna from her legs long enough to lift her up, Cordelia laughed. "Hey guys! Welcome back! How was England?"
"Tiring, but I think we all enjoyed it," replied Wesley, walking down the steps to join his daughter and her Godmother. Anna lifted her head from Cordy's shoulder.
"I had fun."
"I'm glad," laughed Cordy.
"Aunt Cordy?"
"Yes sweetie?"
"You're minging." The word sounded out of place in Anna's accent, a mix of Fred's Texan twang and Wesley's English one.
"I am? Well, that's ...." she trailed off, looking puzzled. "What's that mean?" she mouthed, over Anna's head. Fred indicated that Cordy should pass the girl to her, and Wesley pulled Cordelia to one side.
"She seems to have picked up rather a lot of slang from the children near my mother's home. As far as I can tell, 'minging' means ugly, but I must be more out of touch than I thought. We're hoping she'll forget it all soon enough."
"She thinks I'm ugly?" Cordelia exclaimed, obviously hurt.
"Who thinks you're ugly?" The three of them turned to see Angel walking down the stairs. "I think you're beautiful."
"That's great, babe, but I'm still not gonna sleep with you," she smiled.
"Damn!" Angel laughed. He turned instead to where Fred and Anna stood. "How about you, Anna? Are you gonna give your Uncle Angel a big hug?" Anna giggled, and held her arms ready to clamp round his neck as soon as Fred passed her over. Wesley turned back to Cordelia.
"We don't think she actually knows what the words mean, she's just heard them being used and decided she likes them. As I said, we think she'll forget them in a couple of weeks."
"You English. You'd think it was your language or something. No respect!" Wesley laughed, reaching over to the kitchen area and grabbing a towel, swatting Cordy on the arm with it.
"Oh, you'll pay for that, Chase!"
"I will, will I?" Cordelia lunged for the bottle of shampoo she'd discarded when they entered, flipped the cap open and prepared to squirt Wesley with the brown goo it contained.
"Hey, you two!" Fred yelled, smirking. "Careful will ya? That's his only clean pair of pants, and I don't wanna have to wash anything tonight!" Wesley grinned triumphantly. Lowering her weapon, Cordelia's eyes glinted.
"You haven't won yet, mister. I'll get you when you least expect it, and then-"
"Excuse me?" A new, female, voice interrupted. Wesley couldn't quite place it, but he had the strangest feeling he'd heard it before somewhere, a long time ago. Fred walked towards the door, and held out her hand.
"Hi, can we help you?" Fred looked the woman up and down. She got a bad feeling about her, but she didn't know why. 'Perhaps it's because she looks like a slut?' Fred thought, shocking herself. She wasn't sure where that thought had come from, although there was an element of truth to it. She wore a short red leather skirt that would be better described as a belt, and a red shirt fastened only by the top two buttons. She looked very confident in herself, and going against her first thought, Fred found herself feeling envious of this woman. Realising she was probably a new client, Cordelia blushed and quickly dropped the shampoo onto the ledge behind her, smoothing down her skirt.
"I'm looking for Charles Gunn, I believe he works here?"
"Usually, yeah, but I'm afraid he's out of town on some business right now, he'll be gone a coupla weeks," Angel spoke up, still holding Anna in his arms.
"Oh. That's a shame."
"Is there anything we can help you with?" Wesley walked towards the door, staring intently into the woman's eyes. There was definitely something familiar about them. She looked at him, and he felt a shiver run down his spine.
"Yes, perhaps you can." She smiled. She was speaking directly to Wesley, everyone could feel it. He was the one she was interested in. Fred felt jealousy bubbling up inside her. "Is there somewhere we could go to discuss my problem? Somewhere more ..." she smiled provocatively. "more private?"
Wesley smiled a smile Fred had only ever seen him give her. "Yes, of course. Step into my office." He held his arm out to indicate the room, not dropping his gaze from her eyes at any point. He closed the door behind him.
Fred stood still in shock, watching as the woman spoke to her husband. She saw him nod, and observed as he leant over and closed the blinds.
"Okay ... what the hell just happened?!" Cordelia was the first to speak up, voicing Fred's own thoughts. What the hell *had* just happened? Pushing all negative thoughts to the back of her mind, Fred walked over to Angel and took Anna from him. Wesley would never cheat on her, she was sure of it.
"When he comes out of there, tell him we went home. We'll see him back at the apartment. I'm taking the car, he can get a cab."
"Fred ..." Angel put his hand on her shoulder. "Fred, you know Wesley would never -"
"I know." She nodded. "I'm just tired, is all."
"You sure you're okay?" Cordelia looked sceptical, and Fred spotted the worry in her eyes. She forced a smile.
"I'm certain." Without another word, Fred took her daughter and left. Angel turned to Cordelia.
"That didn't look good."
****
Wesley turned to the woman and smiled pleasantly. "So, how may I help you?"
"Oh, well, it's nothing, really," she began, walking towards him sensuously. Unnerved, he walked backwards away from her until he crashed into the wall. Placing a hand either side of him, she brought her face close to his. "I've seen you around."
"Oh?" he squeaked.
"How would you like to go for dinner with me?" Wesley stiffened at this and twisted out from where she had him pinned. Standing in the middle of the room, where it was safe, he cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry, uhh.." he searched his memory for a name.
"Catherine."
"Catherine. I'm married, and I'm very happy as I am, thank you. Now, can we help you with anything else?"
She sighed. "Yes. But you're sure I can't tempt you?"
"I'm absolutely positive."
"Okay, then I have some demons in my apartment. I want you to check them out for me. Get rid of them."
"That's what we're here for. Okay, I'll just get one of my associates to take down the details -"
"No. You will do it." She stared at him, evidently waiting for a response of some kind. He stared back.
"I'm sorry, I've just returned from a holiday. I'm not supposed to be working today. I suggest you allow Cordelia to talk to you." He opened the door. "Cordelia? Could you get in here please?"
Dropping the magazine she was reading, Cordelia walked over to him. "Yeah?"
"Could you take down some of Catherine's details? She has a problem in her apartment that needs looking into -"
"No, its okay. I'll come back another time when you're not quite so busy." She walked briskly out of the hotel, and Cordelia looked around her.
"Yeah. You do that. Because we have so many *other* customers right now." She turned to Wesley. "What was with her?"
"I'm not sure ... there was something ... familiar. Not about Catherine herself - more ... more a feeling I had. I think there's something more to her than just a few demons." He shook his head and looked up. "Where's Fred?"
"She took Anna home."
"In the car?"
"Yeah. She said you could get a cab."
"Oh, I can, can I? That's nice of her!"
"Wesley, is something wrong?" Cordelia sat down and patted the seat beside her.
"No. Should it be?"
"It's just ... ever since that woman came in, you were ... well, it looked to me - and probably Fred, too - like you were flirting. And now you're being snarky about Fred. It's just - it seems odd."
He sighed, and sat down. "I don't know. It seems odd to me, too. It's probably just jet-lag - wait - you thought I was flirting?" he interrupted himself. Cordelia nodded apologetically. "Oh, Christ. Was Fred upset?"
"I think she was a little ... flustered. Confused, maybe. I'm not sure about upset though. Although you know Fred - if you give her too long to dwell on it, she'll just make it worse.
He nodded in agreement. "I'd better be getting back home and talk to her, then."
"Shall I call you a cab?"
"That'd be nice."
"You're a cab!" Wesley groaned at the bad joke, and Cordelia laughed. "Come on, it was at least a little funny!"
He glared at her. "No, Cordelia, it really wasn't! Its the oldest joke in the book!" He smirked. "Okay, it was still a little funny."
****
Catherine walked out of the Hyperion into the bright sunshine. Standing on the steps outside, she dug around in her purse, finally pulling out her cell phone. Pushing a few buttons, she waited impatiently as it rang, squinting around her into the LA daylight.
"It's me. He's resisting, but I'll have him eating out of the palm of my hand soon enough." She listened to the voice on the other end. "I know how much time I have. You won't be losing my services."
Part Two
By Vengeance Girl
SERIES: Eighth and probably final part of the Kiss & Tell Series. The rest can be found here, and at a variety of other sites :D
SPOILERS: The whole series started before Offspring, and then went AU, although there are slight spoilers for Birthday.
FEEDBACK: Please - I thrive on it - rach@wholenew.deep-ice.com - keep my inbox company!
DISCLAIMER: So, next time I'm in the kitchen and I have an accident and spill some milk, >poof AUTHORS NOTE: Big huge hugs and thanks to Selina, who not only helped me write the *first* version of this fic, she stuck with it when my computer ate it and helped me write the *second* version as well. And lots of thanks to Regina, for prodding with her prodding stick, and helping me figure out where I was going wrong.
SUMMARY: She's all that he wants, she's all that he needs ... but does she see it?
****
Wesley slipped his key into the lock. He turned it noiselessly, and held the door open for his wife to enter with the sleeping child that lay in her arms. Fred smiled briefly, her usually sparkling eyes looking tired. She headed straight for their daughter's bedroom, and as Wesley went to bring their suitcases inside, Fred closed the door with her heel and flicked on the light.
She lay the girl carefully on the bed, and slipped off the comfortable T-shirt and trousers she'd worn to travel in. Quietly she rummaged through the drawers until she found one of the pairs of pyjamas they hadn't taken away with them, and changed her into them. Throughout this, the child didn't stir. "She's a deep sleeper," thought Fred, smiling. "Just like her father," She lifted the covers, and moved her daughter underneath them, kissed her on the forehead and left her to sleep.
"She asleep?"
"Yeah. Didn't wake up at all." Fred joined Wesley on the sofa. Curling her legs underneath her, she snuggled into the arm he lay round her shoulders.
"Well, that was ... " Wesley paused, searching for the right word to describe their holiday. ".. an experience."
"It was definitely that."
"Anna enjoyed herself, didn't she?"
"Yeah. She's quite the little English girl now - although I'm not sure about some of the slang she's picked up from the other kids round there!"
Wesley chuckled. "She'll forget it all, soon enough." He glanced at his watch. "I suppose I should ring Mum, tell her we got back safely."
"Won't she be asleep? It's like, 4am there."
"I can leave a message. She'll just worry if I don't. Especially now she's met Anna, she always did worry more when children were involved." He replied, standing. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Nah, I think I'll just go to bed. Are you coming?" Fred's eyes perked up slightly.
"I'll just ring Mum, check the post, and then I'll be there. You go - you look like you could use it!"
"If I had the energy, I would hit you with something, but I don't, so I'll just glare," Fred joked.
Wesley walked back across the room towards her, cordless phone in hand. She held her hand up pitifully, indicating him to help her. He took it, and jerked her out of her seat and into his arms. "You know you'll always be beautiful to me." He leant down and kissed her softly on the lips. She kissed him back, spoiling the moment slightly by stifling a yawn. Wesley laughed. "Go on. I'll be in soon."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Released from Wesley's arms, Fred traipsed into their bedroom, tired but happy. He watched her, smiling, until she closed the door, before returning his attention to the phone. Dialling quickly, he impatiently listened to the message on his mother's call minder, waiting for the tone.
"Mum, it's just me. We got back about half an hour ago, no problems. Umm ... we're going to bed now, so I'll speak to you soon. Bye." Wesley hung up, hating those machines with a vengeance. Yes, they were practical, but the messages on them always seemed cold, even now when he'd been using them for years.
Unbuttoning his shirt as he turned off the main light, Wesley entered the bedroom and smiled at the sight that greeted him. He slid his arms under his wife's slender, fully-clothed, and fast asleep body, moving her under the covers, not wanting to wake her. Quickly changing into something more comfortable than the clothes he'd been wearing to travel, he slipped himself under the covers, and within seconds he too, was fast asleep. Hush fell over the Wyndham-Pryce household once again.
*****
Sunlight streamed through the pale blue curtains onto Wesley's face, and he blinked awake. He smiled to see Fred still sound asleep. He rolled over to look at his clock, but instead almost jumped out of his skin to find Anna standing beside the bed, grinning from ear to ear. "Daddy!" The four year old drew out the last vowel sound, and Wesley grinned back. Holding a finger to his lips, he pulled the covers back and scooped her into his arms, carrying her back into the living area. He glanced at the wall clock and noted with surprise that it was almost noon. He was impressed Anna had slept that long, even as tired as she had been. She usually had the energy of a Slayer and never slept past nine am.
"Let's leave Mummy to sleep shall we?" he murmured. "She's even more tired than you were."
"I wasn't tired." The brunette shook her pretty curls defiantly. Wesley laughed as he walked over to the kitchen area, still in his boxer shorts, his hair tousled. "Would you like some breakfast?"
"Yes, please." The voice came from the bedroom doorway, not his daughter, and he looked up to see Fred standing there, looking considerably better for the rest she'd gotten. "I'd kill for a coffee."
Flicking the switch on the kettle, Wesley grabbed his wife by the waist, and kissed the top of her head. "Feel better for that?"
"A thousand times." She turned in his arms so that she faced him, and leaned up for a morning kiss.
"Daddy, I'm hungry." The moment interrupted, they both laughed.
"Okay, sweetie-pie," replied Fred. "We'll get you something, and then shall we'll go and see Angel and Cordy, okay?"
****
"Angel, have you seen my shampoo? I swear, we've got a cosmetics eating demon in this place!" Cordelia skipped down the stairs, spotted the bottle on the side of the kitchen sink, and frowned. "Angel, have you been using my shampoo?" She turned to head back up the stairs, and jumped when she saw the little girl standing there, grinning. "Jesus, Anna! You scared me!" She smiled as the child ran to her and hugged her tightly round the legs. Looking up, Cordy spotted Wesley and Fred standing in the hotel doorway, watching the scene before them. Dislodging Anna from her legs long enough to lift her up, Cordelia laughed. "Hey guys! Welcome back! How was England?"
"Tiring, but I think we all enjoyed it," replied Wesley, walking down the steps to join his daughter and her Godmother. Anna lifted her head from Cordy's shoulder.
"I had fun."
"I'm glad," laughed Cordy.
"Aunt Cordy?"
"Yes sweetie?"
"You're minging." The word sounded out of place in Anna's accent, a mix of Fred's Texan twang and Wesley's English one.
"I am? Well, that's ...." she trailed off, looking puzzled. "What's that mean?" she mouthed, over Anna's head. Fred indicated that Cordy should pass the girl to her, and Wesley pulled Cordelia to one side.
"She seems to have picked up rather a lot of slang from the children near my mother's home. As far as I can tell, 'minging' means ugly, but I must be more out of touch than I thought. We're hoping she'll forget it all soon enough."
"She thinks I'm ugly?" Cordelia exclaimed, obviously hurt.
"Who thinks you're ugly?" The three of them turned to see Angel walking down the stairs. "I think you're beautiful."
"That's great, babe, but I'm still not gonna sleep with you," she smiled.
"Damn!" Angel laughed. He turned instead to where Fred and Anna stood. "How about you, Anna? Are you gonna give your Uncle Angel a big hug?" Anna giggled, and held her arms ready to clamp round his neck as soon as Fred passed her over. Wesley turned back to Cordelia.
"We don't think she actually knows what the words mean, she's just heard them being used and decided she likes them. As I said, we think she'll forget them in a couple of weeks."
"You English. You'd think it was your language or something. No respect!" Wesley laughed, reaching over to the kitchen area and grabbing a towel, swatting Cordy on the arm with it.
"Oh, you'll pay for that, Chase!"
"I will, will I?" Cordelia lunged for the bottle of shampoo she'd discarded when they entered, flipped the cap open and prepared to squirt Wesley with the brown goo it contained.
"Hey, you two!" Fred yelled, smirking. "Careful will ya? That's his only clean pair of pants, and I don't wanna have to wash anything tonight!" Wesley grinned triumphantly. Lowering her weapon, Cordelia's eyes glinted.
"You haven't won yet, mister. I'll get you when you least expect it, and then-"
"Excuse me?" A new, female, voice interrupted. Wesley couldn't quite place it, but he had the strangest feeling he'd heard it before somewhere, a long time ago. Fred walked towards the door, and held out her hand.
"Hi, can we help you?" Fred looked the woman up and down. She got a bad feeling about her, but she didn't know why. 'Perhaps it's because she looks like a slut?' Fred thought, shocking herself. She wasn't sure where that thought had come from, although there was an element of truth to it. She wore a short red leather skirt that would be better described as a belt, and a red shirt fastened only by the top two buttons. She looked very confident in herself, and going against her first thought, Fred found herself feeling envious of this woman. Realising she was probably a new client, Cordelia blushed and quickly dropped the shampoo onto the ledge behind her, smoothing down her skirt.
"I'm looking for Charles Gunn, I believe he works here?"
"Usually, yeah, but I'm afraid he's out of town on some business right now, he'll be gone a coupla weeks," Angel spoke up, still holding Anna in his arms.
"Oh. That's a shame."
"Is there anything we can help you with?" Wesley walked towards the door, staring intently into the woman's eyes. There was definitely something familiar about them. She looked at him, and he felt a shiver run down his spine.
"Yes, perhaps you can." She smiled. She was speaking directly to Wesley, everyone could feel it. He was the one she was interested in. Fred felt jealousy bubbling up inside her. "Is there somewhere we could go to discuss my problem? Somewhere more ..." she smiled provocatively. "more private?"
Wesley smiled a smile Fred had only ever seen him give her. "Yes, of course. Step into my office." He held his arm out to indicate the room, not dropping his gaze from her eyes at any point. He closed the door behind him.
Fred stood still in shock, watching as the woman spoke to her husband. She saw him nod, and observed as he leant over and closed the blinds.
"Okay ... what the hell just happened?!" Cordelia was the first to speak up, voicing Fred's own thoughts. What the hell *had* just happened? Pushing all negative thoughts to the back of her mind, Fred walked over to Angel and took Anna from him. Wesley would never cheat on her, she was sure of it.
"When he comes out of there, tell him we went home. We'll see him back at the apartment. I'm taking the car, he can get a cab."
"Fred ..." Angel put his hand on her shoulder. "Fred, you know Wesley would never -"
"I know." She nodded. "I'm just tired, is all."
"You sure you're okay?" Cordelia looked sceptical, and Fred spotted the worry in her eyes. She forced a smile.
"I'm certain." Without another word, Fred took her daughter and left. Angel turned to Cordelia.
"That didn't look good."
****
Wesley turned to the woman and smiled pleasantly. "So, how may I help you?"
"Oh, well, it's nothing, really," she began, walking towards him sensuously. Unnerved, he walked backwards away from her until he crashed into the wall. Placing a hand either side of him, she brought her face close to his. "I've seen you around."
"Oh?" he squeaked.
"How would you like to go for dinner with me?" Wesley stiffened at this and twisted out from where she had him pinned. Standing in the middle of the room, where it was safe, he cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry, uhh.." he searched his memory for a name.
"Catherine."
"Catherine. I'm married, and I'm very happy as I am, thank you. Now, can we help you with anything else?"
She sighed. "Yes. But you're sure I can't tempt you?"
"I'm absolutely positive."
"Okay, then I have some demons in my apartment. I want you to check them out for me. Get rid of them."
"That's what we're here for. Okay, I'll just get one of my associates to take down the details -"
"No. You will do it." She stared at him, evidently waiting for a response of some kind. He stared back.
"I'm sorry, I've just returned from a holiday. I'm not supposed to be working today. I suggest you allow Cordelia to talk to you." He opened the door. "Cordelia? Could you get in here please?"
Dropping the magazine she was reading, Cordelia walked over to him. "Yeah?"
"Could you take down some of Catherine's details? She has a problem in her apartment that needs looking into -"
"No, its okay. I'll come back another time when you're not quite so busy." She walked briskly out of the hotel, and Cordelia looked around her.
"Yeah. You do that. Because we have so many *other* customers right now." She turned to Wesley. "What was with her?"
"I'm not sure ... there was something ... familiar. Not about Catherine herself - more ... more a feeling I had. I think there's something more to her than just a few demons." He shook his head and looked up. "Where's Fred?"
"She took Anna home."
"In the car?"
"Yeah. She said you could get a cab."
"Oh, I can, can I? That's nice of her!"
"Wesley, is something wrong?" Cordelia sat down and patted the seat beside her.
"No. Should it be?"
"It's just ... ever since that woman came in, you were ... well, it looked to me - and probably Fred, too - like you were flirting. And now you're being snarky about Fred. It's just - it seems odd."
He sighed, and sat down. "I don't know. It seems odd to me, too. It's probably just jet-lag - wait - you thought I was flirting?" he interrupted himself. Cordelia nodded apologetically. "Oh, Christ. Was Fred upset?"
"I think she was a little ... flustered. Confused, maybe. I'm not sure about upset though. Although you know Fred - if you give her too long to dwell on it, she'll just make it worse.
He nodded in agreement. "I'd better be getting back home and talk to her, then."
"Shall I call you a cab?"
"That'd be nice."
"You're a cab!" Wesley groaned at the bad joke, and Cordelia laughed. "Come on, it was at least a little funny!"
He glared at her. "No, Cordelia, it really wasn't! Its the oldest joke in the book!" He smirked. "Okay, it was still a little funny."
****
Catherine walked out of the Hyperion into the bright sunshine. Standing on the steps outside, she dug around in her purse, finally pulling out her cell phone. Pushing a few buttons, she waited impatiently as it rang, squinting around her into the LA daylight.
"It's me. He's resisting, but I'll have him eating out of the palm of my hand soon enough." She listened to the voice on the other end. "I know how much time I have. You won't be losing my services."
Part Two
